I was planning on asking D.C. United midfielder Fred about his calf injury after practice today. He’s listed as probable for tomorrow’s match against Marathón in CONCACAF Champions League play. I got more than I bargained for.
Me: You feeling better?
Fred: Much better after swineflu. Yeah, I got it last week, me and my family.
Well, then. So, DCU head coach Tom Soehn didn’t have it when he missed United’s match a couple weeks ago, but there it is: H1N1 made an apperance at RFK. Fred said he had it for five days and that it was much worse than normal flu: stronger, with headaches, diarrhea, no appetite and body pain everywhere. Yuck.
“I don’t want it anymore,” said Fred. Apparently, there are no other cases in the DCU locker room.
As for D.C. United, a multi-goal win is a must against the Hondurans, who can thank the political unrest at home for closing the airports and thus requiring them to take an 8-hour bus ride to Guatemala in order to catch a flight to Washington. They are expected to arrive tonight. United won’t complain if they’re worn out because they need at least a two-goal win to gain the tiebreaker advantage after losing in Honduras, 3-1, last month.
“I think if we can go out and put in a good performance and score a couple goals, it would help us in our own league play,” said United midfielder Santino Quaranta. “Entertaining and hardworking soccer is what we’re trying to get at tomorrow.”
Quaranta (quad) is listed as probable but appears good to go after nearly two weeks off: “This break was real good, and I feel a lot different than I did when we were playing Saturday-Wednesday. You’re excited to be back out on the field. I really feel good on a personal note because we were playing a lot of games. You find yourself really in this mode of like playing one day and then you’re back and here we go again tomorrow. This week has been a great thing for the team and for me as well.”
Dejan Jakovic (hernia surgery) is also probable. He worked out on the side today with Marc Burch (ankle surgery), who is still doubtful. Boyzzz Khumalo (broken wrist) is probable, too.
Bryan Namoff (concussion) is out. Yet another in a long list of head injuries for DCU (Alecko Eskandarian, Josh Gros, Devon McTavish, Greg Janicki). Here’s Soehn: “I think we just keep asking for expert advice, and the more research they do, and the more cases which they have, they can figure out how to treat that. We’ve always erred on the side of caution from the beginning, and I think even more you have to rely on the person going through it for feedback… You’re always concerned. We’re best when Bryan’s on the field. When he’s not, we miss him. The faster we can get him back, the better off we are.”
